• Eliza •
3:21 am on January 2nd, and it's coincidentally the day Alex and I were supposed to compete. My phone began to ring loudly, an unknown number flashing on the screen. I groaned and fumbled around for it, answering just before it finished ringing.
"Hello? This is Elizabeth Schuyler speaking." I mumbled into the phone, turning my bedside lamp on and rubbing my eyes.
"Yes, Ms Schuyler. This is Dr Hosack, I'm calling about Alexander Hamilton." A mans voice said in a slightly urgent tone.
That's when I knew something was wrong.
"What's wrong?" I said, suddenly awake. I tumbled out of bed and pulled my winter coat on over my long sleeved shirt and sweatpants. I shoved my glasses on my face instead of putting in my contacts and scribbled a note in case I had to leave and go to the hospital. I grabbed my car keys but didn't leave my room, just in case nothing was wrong.
"Mr Hamilton's condition in worsening. He may not survive the night but we think we'll be able to get it under control in time. We recommend you come to the hospital now, just in case we can't save him." He said. I felt myself sway on my feet, feeling dizzy and almost sick. Alex is getting worse. I nod then realize they can't see that through the phone.
"Y-yes, thank you. I'll be there in less than 10 minutes." I said, hanging up and grabbing the note. I set it on my pillow and ran to my sisters rooms. I didn't bother keeping quiet, knowing that I'd need to wake up my dad and Angie and Peggy anyways.
"Angelica!" I said loudly, running into her room and shaking her with urgency.
"Jesus Eliza, I'm trying to sleep!" She said.
"Alex is worse. I need to go to the hospital." I replied in panic, running out of her room to Peggy's. She sat up straight like I did when I found out and began to get ready, pulling on her coat and boots quickly as I repeated what I did to her with Peggy.
"Wake Dad up and meet me there." I yelled once I was downstairs. He'd probably wake up from that but if he didn't I knew my sisters would get him up.
I felt surprisingly calm during the ordeal of waking my sisters up. But once I got in the car, it all slammed into me. Alexander could die tonight. I could leave that hospital tomorrow with a broken heart and a funeral planning obligation.
I sped all the way there like I usually did, although paying close attention and being overly careful. I didn't want to get hit by a drunk driver or anything. Pulling into the parking lot, I sprinted to the elevator and pushed the floor 7 button. I willed the elevator to just go a little bit faster so I could get there in time. I raced to the desk where a very exhausted lady sat. I had become very used to her over the past month or so, with my frequent visiting.
I didn't even bother to ask if I could go see him, she just nodded and let me go. I thanked her as I speed walked down the hallway (the doctors very much frowned upon running where patients where being kept), and burst into his room.
Silent tears poured from my eyes when I saw him. There were four nurses attending to him, checking his vitals and attaching more and more wires and IV's of things to him. He was seemingly unconscious, his now-bald head motionless against the pillow. His heart rate was bouncing all over the place and his breathing seemed forced, probably since the ventilator he was hooked up to was doing it for him.
A surgeon spotted me standing there and ushered me over. I recognized him from previous encounters, and remembered his name as Anthony.
"Miss, I'm afraid you only have a few minutes. We're waiting for a few more nurses and doctors to get here so we can do an emergency surgery. The tumor in his brain is spreading despite the chemo, and surgery is the only way he'll survive this. But, since he has no family members and he is currently unconscious, we need your permission to operate." He said, jogging across the room to me. I nodded mindlessly as I wiped my eyes.
"What's the chance he'll actually live?" I asked, my voice sounding rough. I could hear Angie and Peggy's voices down the hall.
"About 50/50. But if we don't operate, he will not live past sunrise." The surgeon said.
"Yes. Operate, please. And try as best you can to save him?" I mumbled. He smiled at me and nodded, patting my shoulder lightly.
"That's my job ma'am. I will try my very hardest to make sure your boyfriend gets through this. Quickly though, say goodbye to him because you have to leave the room in two minutes or so." He said, leading me to Alex.
I kneeled by his bedside and grabbed his hand, which had a finger clamp on it to monitor his heart rate.
"Alexander, I love you so, so much. I can't bear to see you leave me so please. Save your strength and stay alive. I need you in my life and I know that all our friends and family do too. And I don't have long to say this but I want you to know that I care so much about you and with my whole heart, my whole soul, I love you. And I'm not losing you tonight, ok? My dearest, Alexander. I love you." I mumbled, stroking his hand. I stood up and pressed a kiss to his forehead before I was ushered out of the room, a swarm of doctors entering as I left.
That night, all mine and Alex's friends slept at the hospital while he had four different emergency surgeries, one in which his heart stopped. At 10 the next morning we all woke up in a daze and for a moment forgot what happened. As we all remembered, our reactions differed. I for one, had my hands shake for forty minutes straight as I held back tears, forcing myself not to break down. I went to a soundproof room twice to scream and sob, and apparently stayed in there for half an hour each time.
John and Peggy sobbed into each other's shoulders, rocking back and forth on the hospital floor, clutching onto each other like they would fall apart if they let go.
Angelica stared at the wall for a few minutes and then left without a word, returning with a cup of coffee and a blank look almost two hours later. She didn't drink it.
Thomas and Herc both kicked chairs and looked like they wanted to punch with wall. They nearly got kicked out by security until they settled down and both had to be comforted by James and Laf, respectively.
We hadn't heard any news on Alex in hours at this point, nearing 1 in the afternoon. I just want to go home. It sounds so selfish, but I can't help it. I feel so empty and scared and so many other emotions that I don't even know what to do. I want to curl up in bed and cry.
But I sit in the waiting room with everyone else for hours on end. We hardly spoke, only doing so to excuse ourselves to go and cry somewhere or get food that we left untouched. We did this for four hours. From 1 to 5, we just went through this cycle of crying and anger and silence. And in those four hours, we got no word on Alexander.
At exactly 6pm on the dot, an extremely tired looking set of doctors and nurses poured out of Alex's room, all heading different directions. I stood up and Anthony, the surgeon, walked over to me with a blank face.
"Well?" I asked. I knew I sounded like a bitch but I didn't care. Nobody had updated me on my boyfriend since 4am. It's been 14 hours since I knew what was up.
"He is currently asleep, but making a very strong recovery. He survived." Anthony said with a smile. I heard yelling and happy sobbing from my friends behind me and I just stood there with a little grin, spreading across my face slowly. Alexander is alive.
"Thank you." I whisper before falling to my knees in tears. Angelica rushes over and helps me up, walking me to the group as I let my tears fall freely. I'm laughing and crying and being embraced in this huge celebratory group hug. And it felt so amazing, because Alex is alive. It felt so good to say.
I knew recovery would be extremely difficult and Alex nor I would be the same by the end of it. But for now, I focused on the good.
I pictured the dance we were supposed to be performing, probably about now, and seeing the ending in my mind. Me in a beautiful pose while Alex lifted me up, high in the air. It's such a symbolic item in our relationship. Alex is always lifting me higher and higher and making me a better person. He says I do the same to him, I lift him up.
Sitting in a chair a couple hours later, I carefully write a single word on my wrist, and one on Alex's as well, so he can see it when he wakes up.
Lift.
a/n: guys. guys. guys. this is it. The end of lift. Writing this book has been one of the most amazing things ever. You guys are such loyal readers and I can't thank you enough. I'm sad to see it come to an end (an unexpected one at that, I decided halfway through writing the chapter that it was the last) BUT I've decided...
I'm making a sequel!
The next update after this will be sequel info, where you can get a lil sneak peek at what book 2 will be like and even vote on which title I should choose!
Thank you so much for reading, voting and commenting. I hope to see you in book two!